Improved machine for arranging needles



0.0. CROSBY, 0F NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

Letters Patent No. 101,829, dated April 12, 1870.

IMPROVE!) MAVCHINE FOR ARRANGING NIllEiID-LES.`

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom it 'may conce/rn Be it know that I, C, 0. CROSBY, of New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of Gonnecticut, have invented a new Improvement io Machine for Arranging Needles; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specilication, and represent iu- Figure 1, a top View;

`Figure 2, a side view; and in Figure 3, a longitudinal central section.

This invention is designed for separating or assorting the needles so as to present their heads and points in the same direction, the object being to automatically perform the labor'whichV has heretofore been done by hand. To this end,

The invention consists in the arrangement of au incline plane or table, with a delivering device arranged relatively to the said table, so that the needles may be presented at the elevated end ofthe table and, rolling of their own inclination, the heads advance faster than the points, and thus carry the needles to the right or i left, according as their heads advance; that is to say,

the needles, the heads of which lie to thel left, will roll to the right, and 'vice tersa.

To enable others to construct and use my improvement, I willfully describe the same as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

I arrange an incline table, A, smooth upon its upper surface, and near the upper end a hopper, B, into which the needles are placed, regardless of the position of the heads or points, the month of the said hopper opening upon the upper surface of the band C; which saidbaud is carried around a wheel, D, beneath the hopper, as seen iu iig. 3, the said wheel being driven by a pulley, E, or in other convenient manner, revolving toward the table, and the band passing over the second wheel, F, arranged in the rear at .a convenient i distance.

I prefer this arrangement of the band, yet a wheel or a drum alone may be employed, the periphery of which lies in proper position beneath the Amouth of the hopper. i

The hopper is made'adjustable in any, convenient manner, so as to adjust the mouth for the proper delivery of the needles.

The needles are placed in mass into the hopper, care being taken that they lie nearly parallel to each other, and the wheel or band caused to pass beneath the mont-h of the hopper carries from the hopper the needles, singly, and presents them to the incline table, as seen at a, g. 1, where two needles are represented, their heads in opposite directions.

The inclination of the table is such that the nee dles will hy their own gravitation readily roll down the table, and in so rolling the heads naturally travel faster than the points, and theJ needles, the heads cf which lie to the left, will turn to the right, and rice versa, as seen at b, iig; 1.

While the hopper is the most convenient and dcsirable means of placing the needles on the feeding device for delivery, at some Stages of the manufamture of needles they may be delivered to the feeding device directly from the machine which has performed the last operation; as, for instance, passing Yfrom a polishing-machine to the sticker; but generally I prefer the hopper.

Upon each side of the table I form a groove, G, into which the needles roll, their heads all `lying downward; thence. they may he conducted directly to the machine for any operation necessary to be performed upon the needles, delivering the needles their heads first to such machine or operation; or for some pnrposes it may be 4only necessary to deliver the needles to the receptacle, where; for a while they remain, or by means ot' which they are transferred.

. A convenient receptable for the needles is shown in iig. 1, where a box, H, fitted with several coinpartments, is arranged so that each of the two channels G G communicates directly with a respective compartment in the receptacle, which two compartments being filled, the box is passed along to present other compartments, and so on until all are lled.

If upon the delivery of the needles upon the table any should be crooked, such crooked needles will i direction is applicable for many operations in the man-y 4 ufactnre of needles, and alike applicable to the manufacture of other articles, when such separation of the articles is necessary, as in thecmanui'actnre of pins and screws. I therefor do not wish to be understood as confining m'yself to any particular use of this part of my invention, as I have have shown it is adapted to other and many uses.

It is desirable that the table be constructed so so that the inclination may be adjusted, to cause the articles delivered thereon to roll freely down the sur` face.

Having fully described my invention,

What I claim as new and useful, and desire tosccure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The inclined table A with the grooves G G, and with or without its grooves I I, in combination with the band or wheel, substantially in the manner and for thepurpose set forth.

2. In combination with the subject-matter of the rst clause of claims, the hopper B, constructed and arranged so as to deliver the needles at right angles across the said inclined tables, substantially iu the manner described.

C. O. CROSBY.

Witnesses" A. J. TLBBITs, J. H. SHUMWAY. 

